* * * * *

WIT.

Wit is the mind's chief judge, which doth control.
Of Fancy's court the judgments false and vain,
Will holds the royal sceptre in the soul,
And on the passions of the heart doth reign.

DAVIS.

* * * * *

THE TOPOGRAPHER.

* * * * *

TRAVELLING NOTES IN SOUTH WALES.

Gower,
Again receive me!--Let me greet
Thy "breezy hills, and soft retiring dales"--
Thy hoary ruins, monuments of old--
Thy headlands dark, and rocks stupendous,
That battle with the elements, and fiercely,
Bound old Ocean's empire.

_History of the District of Gower, &c._

The peninsula which forms the western extremity of the county of
Glamorgan is called Gower, derived from the Welsh _Gwyr_. The
circumference of the district is about fifty miles: a slight reference
to the map will explain its peculiar form better than any description we
could give. The northern boundary extended east from the river Nedd, or
Neath (of course including Swansea) to the Loughor, which runs into the
large estuary, called the Burry River, and forms its western boundary,
dividing the counties of Glamorgan and Carmarthen.

The history of Gower is interesting. It may not be out of place,
however, to preface it with an outline of the history of Glamorgan.
This county was conquered by the Romans, who had numerous stations in
different parts, and also in the district of Gower, the traces of which
still exist. Glamorgan is originally supposed to have extended from the
river Tawy to Gloucester Bridge, including, besides the present county,
the whole of Monmouthshire, and portions of the counties of Brecon,
Hereford, and Gloucester. The Welsh princes of Glamorgan commenced
paying tribute to the English in the reign of Edgar,--which was
the cause of endless aggressions and disputes between them and the
independent princes of North Wales, who claimed this right. The county
was made a conquest about the end of the eleventh century, by Sir Robert
Fitzhamon (a relation of Henry I.) whose aid had been first called in by
one of the petty princes of Glamorgan, in some of the intestine feuds
which agitated South Wales. Fitzhamon, after entirely defeating the
Welsh, kept Cardiff Castle and the surrounding district in his own
possession, and divided the rest of the county amongst twelve Norman
knights, his princ